Wilson, faculty discuss hiring: Sessions focus on future of UMass

By Kristin Palpini
Staff Writer

Published on July 20, 2007

University of Massachusetts President Jack M. Wilson and members of the faculty have agreed that the interim head of the UMass-Amherst campus should be a strong leader, someone with experience running a research university and someone who will not be a candidate for the permanent chancellor position.

Wilson met with members of the Faculty Senate last Friday and with faculty, administrators and students Monday and Tuesday to talk about an impending interim chancellor, the qualities Amherst constituents want in a chancellor and how the search will be conducted to find a permanent replacement for Chancellor John V. Lombardi.

Ernest D. May, the Faculty Senate's secretary, described the meetings with Wilson as "cordial and upbeat."

Lombardi, who was hired as the Amherst chancellor in 2002, was named president of the Louisiana State University system last week. Wilson is expected to make an interim chancellor appointment for the Amherst campus within weeks.

"This is a moment of transition that we find ourselves in, so the president is having meetings. It's the typical kind of consultation you do in moments of transition," said Robert Connolly, a spokesman for the president's office. "He wants to make sure that the faculty, staff, administration, students and community people have their voices heard."

Connolly added that Wilson's meetings with the Amherst community are similar to the kinds of meetings Wilson had when UMass was searching for a Boston chancellor two years ago and a Lowell chancellor last year.

On Monday, Wilson met with the five available members of the Faculty Senate Rules Committee, Vice President for Academic Affairs Marcellette G. Williams and Executive Vice President James R. Julian Jr., in Shrewsbury to discuss the open chancellor spot.

On Tuesday, Wilson assembled UMass-Amherst vice chancellors, the provost and deans.

Later that day, he also met with student leaders Aaron L. Buford, Ruth Thompson and Jeffrey J. Napolitano.

"I was a little disappointed at not having a clear sense of what the next move is," said Buford, president of the Student Government Association. "I honestly did get the genuine sense that he (Wilson) was listening to us and that he understands what we want in a chancellor."

While those present at the student and faculty meetings said there was no earthshaking developments during the conversations, the faculty sit-down did produce several agreements with Wilson about who should lead UMass Amherst in the interim.

In addition to agreeing that the interim appointee should not be a candidate for the permanent chancellor position , Wilson also agreed that UMass needs an interim chancellor who has experience as a CEO of a research university.

The temporary appointee also should be a strong leader who will keep the flagship campus moving toward its goal of becoming a top research university. There should also not be any major changes of direction for the university in the interim year.

Although the faculty suggested a few people for the interim position, Wilson did not name any potential candidates, said Faculty Senate secretary May, who is also a member of the rules committee.

"It's fair to say that people outside and inside (UMass) have been mentioned," May said, "but we need to keep these names confidential."

May described the Monday meeting with Wilson in positive terms.

"Considering what we've been through, we tried to keep the meeting cordial and upbeat, looking towards the future," May said. "We kept the focus on the task at hand and I think we had reasonable success with that."

UMass-Amherst faculty, students and its supporters have clashed with Wilson and the UMass board of trustees during the last few months over plans to reorganize top-level management. Opponents to those plans criticized their formation without public input.

Reorganization plans included Lombardi's May announcement that he would step down from his role as chancellor at the end of the 2007-08 academic year. With Lombardi's appointment to the LSU presidency, he is now expected to leave his Amherst position before September.

In the meeting with students, Buford said students told Wilson the next chancellor of the Amherst campus needs to be a champion of faculty, student and staff ideas and initiatives.

"I feel he is going to take our conversation to the board of trustees when it comes to putting together the chancellor search committee. I think he'll give voice to our recommendations and concerns," Buford said.

Buford said he sees the establishment and makeup of the search committee as a signal of where the president's and trustees' intentions for Amherst lie. Trustees are already forming a search committee, with trustee Jennifer C. Braceras, a 1989 UMass-Amherst graduate, set to lead the group.

"If they put together a search committee with intentions for equal representation (among Amherst constituents) and an understanding of the needs of the campus, it's going to be their first message that's going to say this process is open,'" Buford said. "The composition of the committee will tell us how things are going to go."

Kristin Palpini can be reached at kpalpini@gazettenet.com.